Shane Van Boening (Photo courtesy of Pat Fleming - Accustats Productions)
*** Shane Van Boening 13 – Jayson Shaw 10 ***
The finals figured to be a shootout featuring a steady barrage of run outs from the break, but over the first seven games neither player could manage even one.
Van Boening won the opener with a five ball run after Shaw scratched on a kick shot. Van Boening then scratched on his break and Shaw ran out, and then won again when Van Boening unexpectedly missed the eight ball. When Shaw hooked himself in the next game Van Boening ran six and out, tying the score at 2-2.
Shaw then executed a mammoth draw shot from the 1 to the 2-ball, ran out and won again when Van Boening fouled on a kick attempt. Shaw now led, 4-2.
Shaw came up dry, however, on his break in game seven, Van Boening ran out, then broke and ran out to tie the score at 4 each. Van Boening played a safe, then sliced in the 1-ball and ran out, but Shaw returned the favor after Van Boening broke dry, so after 10 games the two were knotted at 5-5.
Game 11 was a huge turning point as the two players fought hard in a tremendous test of their defensive skills and wills – which Van Boening eventually won in the eighth inning of the game on the strength of a super precise position play to a small window for shape on the 4-ball. He ran out to take a 6-5 lead, and then he exploded.
The cue ball stopped after the break in the jaws of the upper right corner pocket (from the streaming viewer’s perspective), and the 1-ball was in the middle of the table on a straight diagonal line to the lower left corner pocket. Billy Incardona set the stage for this monster shot, and then Van Boening cleanly fired it into the center of the pocket – as the replay showed – and ran out. He then broke and ran again – and again – at which point he now led the match, 9-5.
And it looked like Van Boening would run the next game but he missed a routine shot on the 9-ball. Shaw was hooked behind the 10-ball, but he kicked in the 9, then slammed home a bank on the 10-ball for the W.
In game 16 Van Boening rebounded with a masterful shot on the 2-ball for shape on the 5 that deserved several gold stars, then ran out. In the next game he blundered when playing shape on the 4-ball, but kicked it in, banked in the 6-ball and ran out, then made a carom on his way to running the next rack, extending his lead to 12-6. He was now on the hill thanks to six B&Rs in games 8-18.
It looked like it was over, but we know what Yogi said, and Shaw did, in fact, mount a charge. It started when Van Boening pushed out after his break and Shaw played a strong safe. Van Boening fouled, and Shaw ran out. Shaw left the 5-ball in the jaws in game 20 but Van Boening missed a long shot on the 6 and Shaw ran out. Van Boening now led by four, 12-8.
In the following game Van Boening strangely missed an easy shot on the 6-ball, Shaw ran out, then followed this with his only break and run of the match to narrow the gap to 12-10. If he could get his break working he just might run several racks and out as he had against Darren Appleton and Kevin Cheng.
But after making a ball on the break Shaw scratched on a cross and down the table position route on the 1-ball and Van Boening ran the remaining eight balls to win the match, 13-10, and the title.
The Score Line: V S-S V S-S V-V-V S V-V-V-V S V-V-V S-S-S-S V
Accu-Stats TPA
Shane Van Boening - .918
Jason Shaw - .875
ACCU-STATS Total Performance Average (TPA)
Every player had at least one super performance as shown by their best TPAs below.
Average TPA - # of matches – highest TPA
Shane Van Boening ---.915 (6) --- 943
Jayson Shaw ----------- .904 (6) ---.970
Thorsten Hohmann --- 904 (5) --- .972
Kevin Cheng ----------- .879 (5) --- .940
Earl Strickland --------- .867 (5) --- .975
Darren Appleton ------ .839 (5) --- .945
THE STANDINGS in the Round Robin
Jayson Shaw – 4-1
Shane Van Boening – 3-2
Thorsten Hohmann – 3-2
Earl Strickland – 2-3
Kevin Cheng – 2-3
Darren Appleton – 1-4
